Tie One On! (Japanese: メガニウムVSフシギダネ！くさタイプのいじ！, Meganium VS Fushigidane! Spirit of the Grass Types!) is the 268th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 3, 2002 and in the United States on September 19, 2003.

Macey wins her next battle so Ash can't lose the next round if he wants to progress immediately. However, his opponent has a powerful Magneton and Meganium.

Contents

Synopsis

The episode begins with the second match of Group H, as Macey faces off against Jackson, the group's third competitor. Though Macey is ready, Jackson is more prepared to showboat than battle, saying hi to Dani and Yoshi to one of the stadium cameras. Once the match gets under way, the three-on-three match is down to a winner-take-all - Macey down Magcargo and Starmie and Jackson down Golduck and Quagsire, with Macey's Quilava and Jackson's Poliwhirl battling for the match. Jackson's showboating gets to the better of him, as he trips over his cape issuing orders to Poliwhirl, leaving Poliwhirl standing as it eats a Flamethrower. This, combined with a Starmie Thunderbolt from earlier battle, seals the match for Macey. As Ash and company watches from the stands, Brock notes that Macey saved herself from elimination by winning, which also meant that Ash and Macey are tied at the top of Group H (with Ash still having to battle Jackson), and that Ash will only need a tie against Jackson in order to advance, while Jackson must win outright to force a three-way tie. Noting this, Brock also mentions that a second tiebreaker round-robin would be needed should Jackson win outright.

Back at the Athlete's Village, Squirtle and Bulbasaur are rekindling their old friendship outside, everyone else moves inside, where they notice Jackson talking to Professor Elm. As they exchange pleasantries, Jackson explains that Professor Elm had given him Chikorita, his starter, and that it had only recently evolved into a Meganium. Asking why Meganium wasn't entered, Jackson thought that it would have been better for him to save Meganium for the Victory Tournament, which, in retrospect, was a mistake.

Back outside, the dynamic duo sees an apple from a tree, which Bulbasaur tries to grab. At the same time, a Meganium, accompanied by an Azumarill, also see the same apple. The two grass types do a tug of war for the apple, which ends up splitting in half. Bulbasaur recovers the larger top half, while Meganium ends up with the bottom half. As the two water types receive their halves, Azumarill throws its half towards Squirtle, hitting it in the face and knocking off the other half of the apple. As Meganium and Azumarill laugh at Squirtle's misfortunes, Squirtle's short-tempered side shows its face. Putting on his Squirtle Squad glasses, he prepares to pick a fight with the two, only to be restrained by Bulbasaur. As Bulbasaur tries to apologize, Azumarill slaps it in the face, bringing on Squirtle's anger once again. Bulbasaur easily shakes it off, and tries once again to restrain Squirtle once again. As the two leave, Meganium's vine latches on to Bulbasaur, tripping it, and causing Azumarill and Meganium to laugh once again. Now with the better half of the duo also angered, the four Pokémon begin to fight each other.

Inside, Professor Elm updates Ash on Larvitar, and how it and its mother, Tyranitar living in peace under Ranger Mason's preserve. Just then, they hear of a Pokémon brawl breaking out outside, with Bulbasaur and Meganium involved. Ash and Jackson figure that their Pokémon are involved, and rush outside. Seeing their Pokémon grappling, they try in vain to quell the fighting. Only when Harrison appears with Miltank does the fighting stop, by way of Heal Bell. As both Ash and Jackson thank Harrison for breaking up the fight, Officer Jenny arrives to see what the commotion was about, and warns that any brawls could get their Pokémon's trainers disqualified. Harrison covers for Ash and Jackson, saying that the four Pokémon were only practicing against each other, with Gary appearing to back up Harrison's claim. With Officer Jenny gone, Gary and Ash exchange a bit of trash talk, before Gary leaves.

Later, as Ash and company are deciding on the three entrants against Jackson, noting that, in addition to Azumarill and Meganium, he also has a Template:Shiny2Magneton, but Meganium is the strongest Pokémon on his team. Misty advises Ash to enter Cyndaquil (as a Meganium counter) and Pikachu (as an Azumarill counter).

The next day, the match begins in a smaller stadium, with Jackson having the first move (showboating off once again). Jackson leads off with Azumarill, so Pikachu leads off. Azumarill leads off with Water Gun, while Pikachu evades with Quick Attack. As Pikachu reverses for the attack, Azumarill dodges at the last minute. After exchanging a Thunderbolt and a BubbleBeam, Azumarill connects with Icy Wind and follows up with Iron Tail. Pikachu, however, grabs the tail just as it connects and reverses with a Thunder, knocking it out.

Next up for Jackson is Magenton. After exchanging Thunderbolts, Ash attempts a speed game. Pikachu tries to do a Quick Attack, but Magneton dodges and uses Thunder Wave, holding Pikachu down. Finally, Jackson ends it all with a Tri Attack. Pikachu is hurled right into a wall, and is out for the count. Sending out Cyndaquil, as Brock remarks that Magneton, as a Steel-type, would have the disadvantage. After exchanging a Thunderbolt and a Flamethrower, Cyndaquil manages to use a SmokeScreen into Swift, which hits Magneton as it was attempting to use Thunder Wave. Magneton uses Double Team to evade another Flamethrower. As Cyndaquil tries to slowly sweep with Flamethrower for the real Magneton, it is on the receiving end of the Thunder Wave and Tri Attack combination, knocking it out.

Now down to his last Pokémon, Ash brings out Bulbasaur. Jackson begins with a Thunderbolt, which Bulbasaur counters with Razor Leaf. Magneton evades with Double Team. Bulbasaur, avoiding the same combination that had done in Pikachu and Cyndaquil, use a spinning Vine Whip to mow down the afterimages, which eventually hits Magneton. Nevertheless, the combo is tried again, but Thunder Wave is blocked by a last-minute Razor Leaf, and Vine Whip is used to evade the Tri Attack. Finally, Bulbasaur manages to connect with a Leech Seed, which manages to sap much of its energy. One Vine Whip to spin Magneton around wraps up the match-up, as Magneton is knocked out.

Bulbasaur and Meganium are now battling for the match, and the prior bad blood is still fresh in their minds. Trading off Razor Leafs and Vine Whips, Meganium comes off as being more powerful as some of Meganium's Razor Leafs hit Bulbasaur and it manages to throw Bulbasaur while locked in the Vine Whip. Narrowly dodging Body Slam attempts, Bulbasaur connects on another Razor Leaf. Evading another Meganium Vine Whip with its own Vine Whip, however, allows Meganium to hit Bulbasaur while airborne with Razor Leaf. However, Bulbasaur manages to reverse Meganium's Body Slam, and uses another Vine Whip to hook on to Meganium's neck and pelt it with more Razor Leafs. Both slowly get back up, and slowly wear each other down with Vine Whips. On the sidelines, Misty wonders why neither are taking time to evade the attacks, in which Brock responds with the fact that to the combatants, the battle may be of pride as well, and thus both are willing to take as much as they are willing to give. Getting up one last time, both Pokémon prepare to trade off SolarBeams, which manage to knock out both Pokémon.

Despite the draw, both trainers congratulate on a battle well done. With the tie game, Ash advances to the Victory Round from Group H. Macey, also in the audience, also cheers Ash on, believing he can go all the way. Back at the Team Rocket concession stands, Team Rocket has also sold out of its new Thunderbolt badges, thanks to James' knack of what the collector would want. Once again, Team Rocket redouble their efforts into making more money.

Back at the Athlete's Village, the preliminary rounds have been decided. Ash discovers that Harrison advanced from his group, as did Gary. What surprises him even more, though, is that his first round match in the Victory Tournament is against none other Gary. The battle of the eternal rivals is starting to heat up...

Trivia

Errors

In the English dub, when Jackson's Magneton knocks out Ash's Pikachu with Tri Attack, Brock says that Magneton using Icy Wind limited Pikachu's speed when in fact Azumarill had used it.

The announcer claimed that Jackson had used a Psyduck, but it was actually a Golduck.

Prior to launching its' final Tri Attack against Cyndaquil, Magneton appears as if it's going to get hit with what seems like a Razor Leaf coming in from the top of the screen

Dub edits

Two of Jackson's references to Jimmy and Marina were removed, and replaced with references to his family back home. In a third, the dub refers to them as "Yoshi" and "Dani", leading to confusion over whether those were the intended dub names.